There is a very real sense that the U.S. Open is the hardest golf tournament to win anywhere on the planet.
It is hosted by those crafty devils at the USGA, who handpick only the toughest courses around to ensure that the test for the sport’s best players is suitably challenging. This is not a place for newcomers to golf to be learning their craft.
The Masters is played at the same course, Augusta National, every year, which tends to make life easier for those returning on an annual basis, while the British Open is largely defined by the weather on those coastal Links courses – if it’s benign, typically these layouts are considerably easier to manage.
But the US Open is routinely played out on courses that are tough in all sorts of weather and, this year Winged Foot GC in Mamaroneck, New York looks set to follow in that fine tradition. It is one of the few golf courses to feature on the National Register of Historic Places, and has so far hosted six majors, two women’s U.S. Opens, a U.S. Senior Open and the grind that is the U.S. Amateur. The 2006 U.S Open produced one of the most amazing finishes in major history, too. The east coast is blessed with a number of top tracks, including PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but Winged Foot is arguably the jewel in the crown.
The scene is set for a fascinating renewal in 2020 then, and the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed will be among the favorites to lift the trophy in the U.S. Open 2020 betting odds from Betway in which Brooks Koepka is the +800 market leader. The tournament will be broadcast live on ESPN in the USA and other networks around the world, and here's what spectators – and the players – can expect from the devilish Winged Foot.
Carnage on the Eighteenth
When analyzing a golf tournament and trying to predict what will unfold, it is always smart to take a look back at what has happened at a specific course in the past. And on that front, players looking back to the 2006 U.S. Open could be forgiven for fearing the worst.
The Australian, Geoff Ogilvy, took the spoils in the end with a score of +5, which remains as one of the highest winning marks in a major to this day. It could have been so different but for the 72nd hole mayhem that saw three contenders for the crown – Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie – all have their dreams shattered.
Mickelson led the way heading into the final round on the Sunday, but a shaky start to his 18 saw Ogilvy capture the lead. As the drama unfolded, all four of the players already mentioned had a chance to win, and as they played out the 72nd hole – which is known, a touch masochistically, as "Revelations" – each challenger fell away under the intense spotlight.
Montgomerie had a chance to apply some pressure at the final hole, but a wayward approach shot left him short of the green on the Par 4 hole. A duffed chip led to three disastrous putts, and that double-bogey ended the Scot’s hopes of a major triumph. Furyk then missed a five-footer for par on the last, while Mickelson – playing in the final group – also double-bogeyed Revelations after his tee shot landed in the rough.
As is often the case at the wire in golf tournaments, opportunity came a-knocking and Ogilvy answered the call. The Aussie chipped in from off-the-green on seventeen, before a clutch putt on the last gave him his first – and only – major victory.
As for the other three, well, they probably still shudder at the mention of the name Winged Foot to this very day.
Golf’s Maniacal Master Architect
Behind every golf course there is an architect that draws up the designs for the layout, and the man responsible for Winged Foot is the rather maniacal A.W. Tillinghast.
He began designing golf courses at the turn of the twentieth century and, all told, the Tillinghast name has been accredited with more than 250 designs around the world. A number of these have been used as the host venue for a major, including Cedar Crest Park in Dallas, Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, and Hermitage Country Club in Richmond, Virginia to name just three.
But it is Winged Foot that will always be considered Tillinghast’s masterwork, with its staggering 514-yard Par 4 ninth and the behemoth 640-yard twelfth testing the skills of its plucky challengers off the tee and on approach into awkward, sloping greens.
Inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame in 2015, A.W. Tillinghast’s long legacy in the sport is assured, and modern-day players and fans will be able to get a glimpse of his magnum opus at the US Open in 2020.
